Revenge of the Scapegoat Heiress novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: Set Aside

The judge who vacated my conviction did it nine days later, in a courtroom so full that people stood along the walls.

She was a gray-haired woman who had never seen my case before.

She read the order in a dry, plain voice.

"The conviction of Camilla Winslade is set aside in full," she said. "The court apologizes to her on behalf of the state."

I had waited five years to hear it.

I had thought I would cry, and I only stood there with my hands flat on the table, hearing it.

Kirk sat in the row behind me.

When I turned, he was looking at the floor, and his jaw was working.

Outside, on the steps, the reporters called my name.

I walked through them without answering.

My mother was waiting at the bottom with a large brown envelope.

She had moved to a rented flat in Stamford the week before, and she wore a plain coat with no pearls.

"The deed to the house," she said. "Your father signed it over from the jail, to me, and I've signed it to you."

"They took your name off the deed in your second year inside. I've put it back."

I held the envelope.

It was heavier than it looked.

"I don't want to live in it," I said.

"No," my mother said. "I didn't think you would."

"I'll sell it. The first of it keeps you in a home of your own, and the rest goes to a fund for women coming out of prison with two hundred and twelve dollars."

My mother put her gloved hand against her mouth.

"That's good," she said at last. "That's very good."

She kissed my cheek, and for the first time in my life she did not look over my shoulder to see who was watching.

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